Disappeared Planets (Warriors 109, Kings 86)

In 2005, the International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto wasn’t a planet. It’s hard to imagine a more degrading re-classification. One moment, you’re an integral part of a well-ordered system; a far-flung peer of our great blue marble. The next, you’re just a rock spinning through an endless abyss. In the first half on Wednesday, the Sacramento Kings looked like a basketball team. In the third quarter, the Warriors downgraded them to a collection of five disoriented spectators, drifting aimlessly towards defeat. Over the course of 4:25, the Warriors blew open a 57-57 tie into a 80-59 lead. Aggressive ball-hawking defense fed efficient ball-movement offense fed a deliriously raucous Oracle crowd. The final score doesn’t convey the dominance, but the 31-4 tally during the Warriors’ run paints a decent outline. We’ve seen the Warriors get hot before, but rarely has their combustion so thoroughly turned their opponent to ash.

For the game’s first 28 minutes, none of this was expected. The Warriors fell into the common rut of a quick burst of energy (and resulting lead) to start, followed by a long stretch of disinterested sloppiness. They repeatedly took the easy way out on offense rather than patiently working for a better shot, and seemed preoccupied on defense with playing free safety against DeMarcus Cousins rather than denying the rest of the Kings easy looks. These errors suddenly became more pressing late in the second quarter, when Draymond Green lost his mind over a blown call (replay showed Green with lots of ball, but Cousins’ movements in real time easily explain how the refs could have perceived it as a foul). Despite repeated efforts from his teammates to disengage him from the confrontation, Green continued his venting and racked up two more technicals. The Warriors ended the first half with a deficit and without their heartbeat.

In the past, the Warriors have struggled in Green’s absence. They’re less aggressive on defense and lack the same ball movement on offense. They seem to miss that special ingredient which elevates them above just a very good team to a world-beating one. But at least for one night, against one fairly limited opponent, Steve Kerr and his coaching staff found answers for Green’s absence.

After Klay Thompson’s up-and-down first half (4-4 to start, 1-5 to finish), the Warriors’ guard got back to basics. He focused on attacking the rim, getting to the line and finding open teammates, rather than settling for contested threes. After missing his first shot 19 seconds into the quarter, Thompson went on to hit his next 5, finishing with 17 points in an escalating swirl of energy. Thompson’s teammates did their part by finding him during the run, but also by working to play off him for their own wide-open looks. Rather than become a ball-movement killing spectacle, Thompson’s outburst shorted-out what little defensive resistance the Kings could muster and facilitated more ball movement by the Warriors.

At the other end, Kerr plucked a player from outside his first-half rotation — Patrick McCaw — to fill Green’s hole in the starting line-up. In the first half, Kerr had matched up his center (JaVale McGee, Kevon Looney and James Michael McAdoo) against Cousins most of the time, allowing Green to cheat off the Kings’ other big and play free safety near the rim. While it worked when Kosta Koufos was on the floor, it largely backfired against Willie Cauley-Stein and Anthony Tolliver. Both players found open looks moving behind the Warriors’ defense. In the second half, by inserting McCaw at 3 and bumping Durant to 4, Kerr moved to a more traditional man-t0-man set-up. The Warriors began harassing the Kings’ perimeter passing rather than waiting for Cousins to set up in the interior. The changes were dramatic — Cousins managed only 3 field goal attempts for the quarter (1 make) and the Kings logged 6 turnovers (most of them forced by the Warriors’ defense). While Green remains a nearly indispensable part of the Warriors’ attack, it was comforting to see the team look like themselves even with his unplanned absence.

With Green’s playmaking off the floor, Curry orchestrated the offense during the third. While he may have faced some temptation to call his own number given his frustrating night from the field (3-10 in the first half), Curry instead efficiently facilitated his teammates, on his way to 6 assists (and zero turnovers) in the third quarter. There will be games where the Warriors need Curry to shoot them back into it, but there are too many other efficient offensive weapons on this team to make Curry’s heroics the first option. Curry deserves credit for balancing so well his own offensive opportunities with those of his teammates. The ease with which Curry, Durant and Thompson trade off being the focal point of the Warriors attack remains an argument-ending statement to the “one ball” critics.

The Warriors enter the All-Star break in an ideal situation from Kerr’s perspective. They’ve put to rest any idea that they’ll chase another win record, yet remain ahead of the Spurs and Cavs for permanent home court advantage in the playoffs. They’ve avoided any major injuries, while also finding time during minor ones to develop rotation players like McGee, Clark, McAdoo and McCaw. The worst growing pains that come with integrating a number of new players into the line-up seemed to have passed. Durant looks at home (and as happy as I’ve ever seen him on a basketball court). Zaza Pachulia and David West were playing their best basketball of the season before their respective injuries, and should be able to pick up where they left off once they’re healed and back in shape. Draymond Green had been doing a better job controlling his outbursts (up until Wednesday night) and, at the very least, has been picking up technicals for things he says, not things he kicks.

But behind all of this encouraging news is one sobering, looming truth. The Warriors success this season won’t be judged on how deep they can go into their rotation or how badly they can blow out the Kings in a four-minute stretch. It will be measured — singularly — on whether they can win 16 games from mid-April to mid-June. Rest up. The start of the season is just around the corner.

Adam Lauridsen

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In real game time we were counting the plays he was taking off. I stopped enumerating at 4. Soon after, I retired the ol’ abacus for the night.

Phan Boi

meds won’t help, only would dumb him down. Nope he is who he is. and jmo but I will never judge another on how they motivate themselves Or lets put it this way . Draymond Green or Blake Griffin, who you want? I’ll take the Spartan every day of the week, flaws and all.

Perspective

Well, if that’s the choice, then Yes, Dray.

dr_john

Thanks Adam, Robert, Viggy and ChrisL for getting the blog in good health through the all-star break.

Now, if only Zaza and David can come back 100%.

Perspective

Q: How many Psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Just one, but the bulb really has to want to change.

Phan Boi

I don’t like his outbursts anymore than any one here. I don’t like him taking plays off. I don’t like his whining when he doesn’t get his way( to the refs). Still I’ll take Draymond Green any and every day for my team, wort’s and all.

shrombo

Coach Kerr and Mike Brown were smiling widely on the bench immediately after Dray was ejected, looking calm as can be. They’re probably in a better position to judge Draymond’s mental capabilities as a person & basketball player than us.

The game write-up in this mornings SF Chronicle concluded with this thought:

“As much as his abilities as a defender and facilitator, Green’s tenacity has been a driving force behind his club’s rise. Earlier in the season, when his technical count mounted, he vowed not to deviate from his spirited ways.
Wednesday offered a case study of why his coaches are glad he doesn’t change.”

Son of Ahmed

Thanks for sharing.

Son of Ahmed

Yup, PM is our resident encyclopedia often fleshing out well the tangential issues basketball brings us.

craig.w

I think the team is at their best when JaVale is playing with the starters. However, he is a very poor foul shooter, and is susceptible to hack-a-mcgee if the Warriors are in the bonus. So I don’t think they can use him as part of the closing lineup in all circumstances. Should be worth trying sometimes, though.

Bill P

Fan angst? What a load of tripe. You actually think his teammates are all good with his meltdowns and getting tossed from games; the added pressure that this creates, and the lowered likelihood of winning that comes with these instances? You actually think they don’t want to change that pattern of damaging their chances of winning? Pullease. NO way. Of course they want him to get it under control and stay in the game and most of all put them at ease to focus on execution and not Draymond’s brittle feelings. What a crock. Fan angst. More like teammate angst. They’re afraid of what might come if they confront him. He’s already made it clear that not even the head coach is entitled to confront him without risk of physical confrontation.

Green is a bomb that has endless detonations. We’ve already born witness to the destructive power of that. Ignoring that does nothing to reduce the chance of the heartbreak of watching another title go bye-bye, and to f’ing LeBron James.

Draymond’s behavior and actions – be they good or bad – have repercussions, some of which are not in the remotest way good for the team at the most important of impacts, the ability to win a title. We’ve seen that. How can anyone deny that there are repercussions for his bad behavior? It’s obvious, and pretending this is some sort of zero sum decision – “love it or leave it!” – is the typical approach taken by Trump fans, not students of the game. Draymond is not stuck forever as a meltdown candidate if he chooses otherwise. At times, he simply does not choose to put his team first, because if he did, this garbage would not happen. He’s screamed in public at KD to change his ways. There is no valid reason Draymond cannot find a way to stop himself when he reaches a point he cannot force to his will. There are tools at his disposal, and an entire organization wanting to see him overcome his inability to manage himself and ready to do whatever it takes to accomplish that.

craig.w

Varejao is no longer a Warrior. No need to keep flogging the guy, fun as it may be.

and I love his determination to overcome his shortcomings as determined by the old system. He’s helped re-write the NBA perhaps as much as Curry has. Still does not tell me why it’s good that he loses his control and damages his team’s chances. That just won’t ever be a good thing. He’s smart. He can recognize bad choices in others, and he has the ability to counsel them as to how to rectify their choices. This is silly and quite destructive for him to insist that does not apply to him. He has the capacity for what I’d say is something akin to recognizing what deserves line-item veto in regard to other’s decisions, but nope, not himself. He just insists reality is different for him than for others. That’s crazy.

Howard

Great post Adam. Loved the Pluto analogy, despite the technical issues cited by Mr. Moto. A point you made several times was that the splash brothers do better being great teammates and rim attackers rather than wild, rushed gunslingers.

craig.w

I liked, “He’s fun and he’s mental, but he’s not fundamental.”

craig.w

For older players, a month off isn’t all bad, assuming no permanent effects.

Howard

DGreen has a short fuse. He’s not a head case.

Howard

Dray’s ‘tude is baked in the cake. It is futile not to accept him for what he is, warts and all.

steppin razor

2009 if you want weird. Not just that Hasheem Thabeet, Tyreke Evans, Rubio and Jonny Rocket went before Curry.

But if you look at the rest of the list, it’s a bit of a wasteland. Sergio LLull, that was my favorite. Who could pass on Sergio Llull?

Howard

JaVale proves that a great center playing in the paint and around the rim is still a force to be reckoned with in the NBA.

steppin razor

doing well and doing good, I like that

coltraning

Q: How many Buddhists does it take?
A: Change is the only constant.

Maybe Dray needs to try Buddhism?

Champs15

On offense side warriors are better with McGee. But, Zaza’s rebounding and defense are more valuable than McGee, IMO.

Son of Ahmed

“This morning, recovering from a series of back shots, I was lying in bed thinking of all the things I was grateful for…”

That right there is what happy and grounded people do regularly. They count their blessings. Nice, Col. Hope your back recovers soon.

cynic

Are they glad he got suspended in Game 5 because he couldn’t control himself for the last minute of Game 4?

TechGeezer

That’s your opinion. I stated mine above. Here’s something for you… How many times have you posted a YouTube clip of yourself speeding in your new BMW?

Howard

Sorry about the back problem. The best is having a wife who is a true partner… good of you to recognize what really counts while we are on this conveyor belt to oblivion.

coltraning

Yeah, but I think he knew he didn’t have it, and is well aware of his tech situation. Dumbass as it may have been, may have been a tactic. I am doing the math here. he is getting a tech about every 6 games. There are 26 games left. He knows that too. He may get to 15, but doubt he will go over. I do agree he needs to grow up, but in his eyes he has become an all-star, a champion, likely DPOY, first team all NBA defense, fabulously wealthy and an outspoken spokesman. He was doubted all the way along, underdrafted and undervalued, and still plays with a big chip on his shoulder. He is of the belief that his tude is a big factor in his overachieving and proving the “doubters” wrong.

I too would like to see him grow up, but I know plenty of 26-year-olds not nearly as talented and accomplished as him struggling with that as well. I can’t imagine what it would be like to handle that level of fame, acclaim, scrutiny and wealth at 26, even coming from a really stable middle-class background. I don’t think I would handle it terribly well. Would you?

Hell, the latest research is that the brain is still partly adolescent all the way through 26, and apparently, in the case of some orange-haired monsters, that stretches to 70.

shrombo

Wow. Only 26 more games in the regular season. With a 4 game lead over the Spurs, that’s plenty of time to rest our starters, re-integrate Zaza and Dwest, and give the youngsters extended run. There’s also leeway for Dray to burn through what, 4 more T’s?
Honestly the Spurs could overtake us, and I don’t see the home court giving them the advantage over GS. Even making the WC finals isn’t a slam dunk for them. Utah is a team that could beat them.

coltraning

yes sir. as JT would say, since we’re on our way down, might as well enjoy the ride…

coltraning

Yes. I don’t always do it, not being a practicing Buddhist, but I try to express gratitude for at least 3 things a day. The day goes better and I am a better person for it.

coltraning

Javale…

cynic

As much as Looney/JMM/Clark have played the last month, let’s face it, they will not be a part of the playoff rotation.

The question left is how much Javale and McCaw will be a part of that.

craig.w

My sympathies for your poor, aching back.

Among JaVale’s other positive qualities is .. he’s so much fun to watch. There’s nobody like him. I likewise hope that he plays most of his minutes with the starters – particularly Draymond and Steph – who are best able to use his particular skills.

Notice that he’s staying down better, not jumping into shooters near as much. His positioning is getting better. Nothing to complain about his decision making lately. The injuries to Zaza and West forced Coach Kerr to give him the kind of minutes I think he deserves – and we the fans deserve. He’s shown that he’s in game shape now, able to handle 15 minutes or more without obvious falloff.

I know you agree with me that Kerr didn’t use JaVale as much as he should have until the other centers went down, so we don’t know how he will divide the minutes upon their returns. I think Zaza will continue to start, out of loyalty – and the fact that the team is damn good with Zaza in there. I think David West will continue to start the second and fourth quarters, playing with the backups, and he’s flourished there. But if it were me I’d bring in JaVale earlier in the first quarter – and I’d experiment with starting JaVale in the third quarter.

Zero, no youtube in 1982. I never got caught doing much more crazy dangerous things in my early 20’s because I wasn’t famous and a multi-millionaire.

cynic

As I said below, I’m hoping Kerr also experiments with Javale late in games as a new type of Death Lineup.

patchel

Just love to watch Dramond, you see wear his heart on his sleeve almost every game.and the fact that he has a ticking time bomb attached to him makes him all the more entertaining. Years from now I will remember Curry-Green pick and rolls as fondly as I now think of Barry driving to the basket with that, two handed, underhand scoop shot.

aga bey

and still plays with a big chip on his shoulder…

Yep. And it takes a huge bandage to cover it up…

🙂

shrombo

When I was Draymond’s age it would have been me speeding in my 1971 Impala. That car was a tank, and back before Fulton St had stop lights, I’d go straight from Arguello to the beach at 70 mph, if the light at 36th was green. It was reckless and of course there were no cell phones or Youtube back then.

I don’t condone speeding, especially now that I’m older and “wiser”, but I and many of my friends may have posted worse on Youtube, if it and other media like that were around.

coltraning

yeah, he will likely go back to Zaza, but think Javale will come in with Dré in first and get more run, also in minutes that matter in the 4th…

TechGeezer

Bet you wouldn’t have filmed and posted them back in the day. Only head cases do that. 😉

coltraning

I could see cameos for them and Clark will get a bit. But I have been underwhelmed by them. Clark is a shooter who is inconsistent, not a good defender and not a great set-up man, but he’ll get some spots. Looney/JMM? You are probably right on that, barring injuries to the top 3…

Champs15

Clark has to play. He is the only backup SG for dubs who can hit a 3. Just don’t ask him to handle ball.